1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pseudo 3D (three-dimensional) image creation apparatus and a pseudo 3D image display system.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many ways to allow a non-3D image to be viewed as a 3D image in a 3D display system. In each of these ways, a pseudo 3D image is created from a regular still 2D image or moving 2D image, that is, a 2D image (a non-3D image) having depth information supplied neither explicitly nor, unlike a stereo image, implicitly.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,767 (corresponding to Japanese patent number 4214976) discloses a pseudo 3D image creation device designed to create a pseudo 3D image from a non-3D image.
The device of U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,767 calculates a high-frequency component value of a top part of the non-3D image, and a high-frequency component value of a bottom part thereof. The device includes frame memories storing three types of basic depth models indicating the depth values of three basic types of scene structures. A composition ratio is determined according to the calculated high-frequency component values. The three types of basic depth models are combined into fundamental depth data at the determined composition ratio. The R signal of the non-3D image is superimposed on the fundamental depth data to produce final depth data. The final depth data can be used in creating a pseudo 3D image from the non-3D image.
Regarding a non-3D image having a complicated pattern and a lot of edges, a pseudo 3D image created by the device of U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,767 tends to give a viewer a strong feeling of 3D. On the other hand, regarding a non-3D image having a simple pattern and few edges only, a pseudo 3D image created by the device of U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,767 tends to give a viewer a weak feeling of 3D.